


graduation gift

by rangerhitomi



Category: Cardfight!! Vanguard
Genre: Gentle Kissing, Graduation, Love Confessions, M/M, Sharing breakfast
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-05
Updated: 2019-02-05
Packaged: 2019-10-22 16:56:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17666480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rangerhitomi/pseuds/rangerhitomi
Summary: Kai gets an unexpected visitor at sunrise on his graduation day.





	graduation gift

The early sun forced its way through the crack in the heavy curtain over the window, but Kai Toshiki was already awake. 

He’d been lying in bed thinking about getting up and taking a bath, something he didn’t do the night before, for the past hour now. It wasn’t typical of him. He has always made it a point to be clean, even when he wasn’t planning on leaving the tiny apartment he’s called home for the past three years, and today he had a particular reason for being reasonably presentable. On the wall near the front door hung his school uniform, carefully washed and ironed, ready for the last time it would ever be worn. 

For the past few weeks, Miwa had made jokes about how he’s stunned that Kai managed to show up for class  _ just enough  _ to qualify him for graduation--not that Kai cared too much, not when academia is nowhere in his image for the future--and Miwa was in fact the only reason Kai agreed to go to the ceremony in the first place. He had no family to walk across the stage for, and not many friends, but Miwa pestered him until he relented, because, well, Miwa helping him with all the homework he’d missed was a big reason Kai was able to scrape by with good enough marks to pass his classes. ( _ You owe me,  _ Miwa had said in his generally cheerful way, and Kai figured he could humor Miwa by sitting through a two hour ceremony as thanks.)

The graduation is at ten, and it was only six-thirty, but Kai had no desire to try going back to sleep, so he rolled out of bed and made his way toward the bathroom.

By the time he finished bathing, brushing his teeth, and trying to pat down some of the more unruly parts of his hair, it was seven, and he heard a quiet knock at the door.

The only person who ever visited him was Miwa, and Miwa wasn’t supposed to be over until eight-thirty to pick him up, so Kai stood confused in his towel in front of his bathroom mirror as he heard another, less timid knock.

He abandoned the towel and pulled his pajamas back on to answer the door, hoping that whoever was knocking on his door at seven in the morning had simply gotten apartment numbers mixed up and left (as if they couldn’t read the “Kai” on the door placard), but when he peered through the peephole, he saw the last person he would expect to be standing outside his door.

“Ah… good morning, Kai-kun, I-I didn’t wake you, did I?”

Aichi was fully dressed in his Miyaji Academy uniform, a small wrapped package in his hands. He smiled up at Kai with tired eyes; Kai remembered that Aichi was giving the graduation speech for the graduating class at Miyaji later in the day and wondered whether Aichi had gotten up early or just hadn’t gone to sleep. 

“No, I was just about to make some breakfast.” He stood back to let Aichi in. 

Aichi slipped out of his shoes and entered Kai’s apartment, clutching the package to his chest. “This is kind of what I expected your home to look like, Kai-kun.” He laughed to himself and looked around at the bare walls, the embarrassingly unmade bed, the sterile countertops. 

Kai wasn’t sure how he felt about this sentiment, but it hadn’t occurred to him until that moment that Aichi hadn’t been over to his place before, and he still wasn’t sure what exactly Aichi was doing here in the first place. 

“Are… are you hungry?” he asked instead.

Aichi glanced back at him, an embarrassed smile on his face. “Um… I had some coffee and toast but…”

Kai stepped around Aichi and pulled the sheets on his bed up until it was halfway presentable. “You can sit here, I’m going to make…” He cast around in his mind for something other than toast to make. “How do you like your eggs?”

As it turned out, Aichi was fine with his eggs runny over rice, so after turning on the rice cooker, Kai went back into the living room, where Aichi was now clutching the package to his chest as though it were his firstborn child. The gift was for him, Kai knew, because why else would Aichi get up before sunrise to visit him? 

It was strange, though; Kai had already told him he was going to the tournament at Card Capital, and Aichi had his own school’s graduation ceremony to attend, and a speech he had to give, so why would he even be here? If he wanted to give Kai a gift, it could have waited…

He sat on the bed, a foot away from Aichi, and licked his lips. “Are you okay?”

“Eh? Oh, of course!” Aichi’s smile didn’t quite meet his tired eyes. “I, I have something for you.” He thrust the package in Kai’s direction. “C-congratulations on graduating!”

Though Kai was expecting the gift, it was almost surreal to open the carefully tucked corners of the paper and pull out a new, dark red deck case made of a light metal material, with the Vanguard circle etched in gold on the front. It was sturdy and comfortable in his hands, much different from the flimsy plastic one he’d used for so long. 

He looked up at Aichi, who smiled at his hands, neatly folded in his lap. 

“I noticed that your deck case was cracked last time we fought, so I thought, that, m-maybe Kai-kun would like a new one… And I thought, red and gold were good colors for Kagero...”

This was true. Kai had been thinking about replacing his case, but none of the cases he’d been considering were half as well-crafted or beautiful as this. He didn’t know what to say; that Aichi had not only noticed the minor break in his case but had gone out of his way to find a high-quality replacement as a gift rendered Kai speechless.

He held the case in both hands as he stood and cleared the few steps between his bed and his desk. His deck slid easily into the new case, but when Kai went to see how comfortably it fit in his pocket, he realized belatedly that he was still wearing his pajamas. 

Aichi, mercifully, noticed. “Oh, I… I’m sorry! I didn’t even notice you were- did you need to get, I can--” He was on his feet in the middle of his stammered apology, eyes darting from one end of the small apartment to the other, and his face blanched when he seemed to come to the realization that Kai didn’t have much privacy for getting dressed.

The only other person Kai ever had over was Miwa, and Miwa had no qualms about stripping down in the middle of the room to change, and Kai never thought much of getting dressed in front of Miwa. But with Aichi, the thought of doing something as simple as taking off his shirt in front of him seemed painfully immodest. “It’s honestly fine, I can go into the bathroom to change,” he said weakly. 

“N-no!” Aichi looked scandalized at the thought, his face reddening. “This is your house! I, I can go check on the rice while you--”

Before Kai could shoot down the idea, Aichi shuffled off to the kitchen and planted himself in front of the rice cooker, which still had a few minutes left on it, with his back to Kai. 

It was endearing, how Aichi stood there with his fingers brushing through his hair. Kai imagined Aichi’s face was still red, and he supposed his face might be a little bit, too. 

He dressed quickly in his uniform pants and button-down shirt, leaving the jacket and the tie on the back of the chair by his desk. The soft  _ click  _ of the rice cooker switching from  _ cook  _ to  _ warm  _ made Aichi jump; he squeaked when Kai came up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“K-Kai-kun! Y-you startled me…”

“Sorry,” Kai said quietly. Aichi’s face was still red. “You can sit down, I’ll finish making your food.”

Aichi obliged, and when Kai brought out the bowl of rice with the runny egg yolk sitting on top of it, Aichi sat rigidly on the edge of Kai’s bed, hands twisting in his lap. 

“Here.”

“Thank you for this food,” Aichi whispered without looking at Kai, who sat next to him. 

He ate slowly, chewing the rice with almost exaggerated deliberation, the way he did most things in life. Only in Vanguard did Aichi not have a tendency to overthink his actions; there, he was instinctive and decisive, bold and courageous. 

It was then, maybe, a bit uncharacteristic of his non-Vanguard self to turn to Kai halfway through finishing his food and hold out a spoonful of rice and egg to Kai.

“You haven’t eaten, have you, Kai-kun?”

He hadn’t, but he couldn’t work his mouth to respond; his throat suddenly felt like there was something stuck in it and his heart might have stopped for a moment. Such a gesture was too much, too  _ intimate  _ for Kai to grasp at the moment; sitting there, inches away from the one person who couldn’t possibly know how much he meant to Kai, going so far out of his way to see Kai before his graduation, being offered food from his spoon… 

Kai cursed his own insecurities, his own cowardice, that had kept him from seeking out a deeper friendship, something that went beyond Vanguard and opened him to the possibility of heartbreak and rejection but also the hope of acceptance and peace. He had quashed the desires, learned to ignore the twisting of his stomach and the pain in his chest when he was with Aichi, let himself cry when the wanting became too overwhelming. But here, now, with Aichi smiling shyly, offering to feed Kai, his body angled so their knees almost touched, he couldn’t ignore the possibility that hope might overcome the fear. 

“I haven’t,” he said quietly.

Aichi focused intently on leading the spoon to Kai’s lips; Kai laughed a little when Aichi tipped the rice into his mouth the way a mother might feed her infant, and when Aichi stammered out a weak apology, Kai took the spoon from him, scooped up some rice, and returned the favor. 

They continued this back and forth until the bowl was empty, Aichi too nervous at first to properly keep the rice in his mouth without it falling out onto his lap but getting bolder and bolder with each bite until he leaned into Kai as he fed him the last few grains of rice. There was no way Aichi  _ couldn’t  _ feel the hammering of Kai’s heart, and this hyperawareness of his insecurity was enough to make Kai shake from nerves. 

“I-I’m going to clean up really quick,” he mumbled, gathering the bowl and getting to his feet. Aichi bit his lip and nodded as Kai hurried toward the kitchen and rolled up his sleeves to wash the dishes. The mindless task gave Kai a few minutes to dwell on his situation, and the weight of it hit him so strongly that he had to lean on the sink in the middle of scrubbing out the frying pan. 

_ You waited too long, you idiot. _

He’d already made up his mind about what he would do with his life, at least for the near future. It didn’t involve Aichi, because he never thought it could, and he couldn’t change his mind now, not when he already had plans to move to France, and he wouldn’t change his mind anyway because playing in the Euro League was the next step toward becoming the world’s best, and Aichi still had a year left of high school anyway. And then? After that? Aichi had been talking about studying astrophysics, and with his grades and brilliant mind, he could go anywhere in the world for university, and he shouldn’t and wouldn’t limit his bright future because of Kai Toshiki. 

A small hand wrapped itself around Kai’s, and he turned to face Aichi.

“I’ll help,” he said.

Kai never would have thought, all those years ago, that the broken boy he had given a rare card to in that park would grow into someone so confident in himself. There was so much more to Aichi than just his skill at Vanguard, though that was what first drew Kai to him; he was smart and gentle, kind-hearted and forgiving, supportive and approachable. He was everything Kai wasn’t, and had matured emotionally and physically into a handsome young man. Kai’s chest hurt thinking about it, but he wouldn’t deny to himself that he found Aichi attractive, and found himself staring too long at the way Aichi’s hair fell into his soft eyes, or the way Aichi bit the corner of his soft-looking lip in concentration as he dried the dishes and put them away. 

The last dish was put away, and Aichi glanced at the digital clock on Kai’s stovetop. “I… I should be going soon, I have to be at Miyaji by ten…”

Kai wished Aichi could come to his graduation instead, to sit next to him and hold his hand and clap for him when he walked across the stage and embrace him when his diploma was in hand. But this image, like so many Kai had of them, would not happen, no matter how powerful the image was. 

“Miwa will be here soon to get me anyway,” Kai responded, leading them back into the living room. 

“I, I wish I could be there for you.”

The lump in Kai’s throat reappeared. “You… you always have been.” He paused next to his desk, where his jacket and tie were draped over the chair. 

Aichi’s cheeks turned pink as he looked at the floor. “K-Kai-kun, can… can I…”

Kai’s heart beat out a steady staccato. “What?”

Those small hands reached for Kai’s shoulders, slowly, slowly…

Then Aichi abandoned course, grabbed Kai’s tie from the back of the chair, and started to tie it for Kai instead.

Kai let him fumble with the loops and knots until he’s got it right, let Aichi button the top two buttons that Kai never bothered with, let Aichi straighten the tie and adjust his collar until it sat crisply against his neck. 

“Kai-kun,” Aichi breathed, his hands resting in the dip between Kai’s neck and his collarbones, “I-I… I… I really… really like… you.”

The words hit Kai like a powerful gust of wind; it was both what he had yearned to hear and was terrified to know all along, those timid, simple words from a truly extraordinary boy. Kai would never have taken the first step, but now that Aichi had led him to it, he could let his own hands wrap around Aichi’s shoulders, pull him into his chest, and bury his face in Aichi’s hair; he breathed in the scent of him, the faintly herbal shampoo and the coffee and the dish soap that had splashed onto his jacket. He listened to Aichi’s unsteady breathing slow down and even out, felt the nervous tension in his body dissipate as he sank deeper into Kai’s embrace. 

“I really like you too,” he whispered, and Aichi made a tiny sound, something between a laugh and a sob and a squeak, and it made Kai laugh, too, the idea of Sendou Aichi falling for  _ him _ when he was the one with the burning torch for Aichi, and he didn’t want to let him go.

But time was getting away from them. Aichi had responsibilities, and so Kai let go at last and took Aichi to the front door, where Aichi slipped his shoes on and turned back to Kai. 

His smile wasn’t shy anymore, but warmer than the summer morning he was about to walk back into as he reached up and brushed Kai’s hair out of his eyes. “Congratulations, Kai-kun.”

“Thank you, Aichi. And for the gift. It means the world to me.”

Those gentle, soft fingers touched Kai’s jaw. Aichi leaned up onto his tip-toes and almost stole the breath from Kai’s lips with how close he was. 

“Can I?”

“Please.”

Aichi’s lips parted on contact with Kai’s, sending a jolt of excitement through Kai’s entire body. Holding Aichi’s waist steady, Kai tilted his head and let Aichi lead, his soft, wet lips trailing over Kai’s mouth, their noses bumping together, awkwardly at first, but less and less the longer Aichi kissed him.

This was an adrenaline rush no game of Vanguard could ever match.

“I’ll see you at Card Capital later,” Aichi whispered as he finally pulled away. 

“We can come back here afterward.” Kai’s hands slipped from Aichi’s waist. “I-I can make dinner.”

“I’d love to.” Aichi smiled at him. 

They bid each other farewell again, a quick brush of the lips, but when Kai closed the door at last, he had to lean against the wall for support. 

He hadn’t known it was possible to feel this happy.

Another few minutes passed, Kai trying to gather his composure, when Miwa arrived to walk with him to Hitsue for their ceremony. Miwa waited at the door for Kai to gather his things, leaning against the door frame. “I saw Aichi on the way in,” he said, his knowing grin betraying his conversational tone. 

Kai grunted, busying himself with identifying which of the two keys on his key ring belonged to his front door, very intently.

“He was red as a tomato.” 

Kai locked the door, the key unhelpfully getting jammed and taking more effort than usual to wriggle free.

“‘Congratulations on your graduation, Miwa-kun! I have to leave! Very quickly! Away from Kai’s apartment! Right n--’”

“Are you done.”

“No, you interrupted me, and speaking of, your face is also--”

Kai walked away.

“W-wait! Kaaaai!” 

Love was still a new feeling for Kai Toshiki. He’d spent so much of the formative years of his life without anyone to care for him, unable to form meaningful, lasting relationships. And perhaps being so far separated from Aichi in just a few short months would break his carefully mended heart all over again. But now, knowing that Aichi’s feelings for him were as genuine as his own for Aichi, he felt he could withstand the separation.

They would have to make enough memories to tide them over until the next time they could finally hold each other close.


End file.
